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Sunday, February 26, 2017

Ancestor Birthday ­ February 20th - Robert Rogers 1682-1723


It seems I may be posting this ancestor on the wrong day because my calendar shows February 28th, but in reviewing his information it appears the correct date should be February 20th, so I am a few days late, but still in the correct month.

Robert was my 7th great-grandfather, born 20 Feb 1682/83 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of John and Dinah (Chiske) Rogers. There are records in Ipswich that his father John was an innkeeper in 1693 with the tavern "The Black Horse."

There is quite a long article about Robert on the Find a Grave website. Although they have not found a gravestone for him, they have placed his information in the Rowley Burial Ground section.

Robert's father John and his uncle Thomas Rogers were "saddlers" and Robert followed that same occupation, making saddles and other equipment for horses. He continued in that occupation when he moved to Rowley.

After he had been married for a few years, apparently Robert served as a trooper during Queen Anne's War and was wounded at Dunstable 3 Jul 1706. After a couple of weeks of treatment he returned to Rowley.

The author at Find a Grave believes that Robert had three wives. I did find three marriages for a Robert Rogers in the Rowley marriage records: to Dorothy Smith (my ancestor) 4 Feb 1702/03, then after her death 17 Aug 1718, he married widow Sarah (Jewett) Prime 7 Oct 1718. The Rowley death record shows the death of a Sarah Rogers, wife of John, died 20 Nov 1722, but on Find a Grave that death date is given for Robert's wife Sarah. Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts also shows that date for Robert's wife Sarah. Rowley records shows Robert Rogers married widow Lydia (Leaver) Thurston 11 Mar 1722/23. That marriage was very short as he died 18 Apr 1723.

Robert had five children with Dorothy, including my ancestor Dorothy that I wrote about yesterday (25 Feb 2017), and two children with Sarah. I wonder about who was caring for the young children as the first two wives died, then Robert himself. Did Lydia care for them along with her two children from her first marriage? She married 23 Nov 1725 to Stephen Jewett, her third husband. It is interesting to consider how families may have coped with the deaths of one or both parents in a family.

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